I think you’re asking a bit much - first of all, he didn’t know the levees were going to break, and that’s the main cause of NO’s problems, not simply the storm. Most of the stuff you ask for is unreasonable… takes an awful lot of state and federal cooperation to ensure a multi-say supply of food, and even then, I’m not sure what can be done with a couple days notice. And please, all of you with the “What wasn’t the mandatory evac actually mandatory?” stuff - there’s no way the NOPD can forcible evacuate the city. The onlywas they’re doing it now is with the military.
I’m not saying Nagin is spotless in this incident, I really dont know. When you post “If you read the existing evac plan you’ll see that he did not follow it at all” I’d really be curious to see the actual plan and where he didn’t follow it. But what seems clear to me is that the scope of the disaster very quickly became too big for local authorities to handle, and that much of the unnecessary suffering is due to a poor response at the state and federal level. And yes, that includes (of course not limited to) Bush.
You’re correct that no one knew for certain that the levees were going to break. But at the same time everyone and their brother knows that the levees were designed to handle a Cat 3 storm. I watched the news all day Sunday and the storm was running 175 Mph winds which the news casters were calling a Cat 5.5 storm. Knowing you have that barreling towards you and your levees were not designed to handle anywhere near that is it any surprise they failed? That is a major risk that needs to be accounted for, and it doesn’t appear it was.
As far as asking to much- I heard on the radio the other day that the Mexicans put a 10 day food and water supply in place for similar disasters. Now if Mexico can do that you would think that we could. Even so I don’t think I am asking to much. How hard is it to order up several truck loads of bottled water or even tankers with water and have them parked inside the building for protection? Same goes for food, it doesn’t need to be a 5 course meal, just enough to get through. I am sure there are several Walmart type distribution centers around NO that could handle such orders. As far as generation, call every rental house (Hertz, RSC, Sunbelt United ect.) in the town and tell them to bring in every generator and light tower they have. Now for the police, you’d think that would be a no brainer. And if the Gov had mobilized the National Guard like she should have they could have been used as well. Rounding up the medical staff to me would be the hardest part, but I think something could have been done at least on a minimal level. Maybe park all the ambulances along with Docs and EMT’s inside the building. This would allow for on sight Med care and save the much needed ambulances for used after the storm passed. Every city I have ever lived in has their own porta potties, additionally there are companies that rent them out. Could you get as many as you need inside a 48 hour window maybe not? But I am sure a large number could have rounded up which would have certainly helped the sewage situation. One other thing, we have seen all the pictures of those school busses sitting in a flooded parking lot, I’d bet a large number of them could have been parked inside the convention center and Super”doom” (of course after they brought people there, you’d that would have been done) and saved for use after the storm.
Think about the Win-win for the companies involved here- All of their assets which would have been destroyed otherwise, are now in a safe place making money and helping people. I am sure the companies would jump at such a chance. Additionally all of the assets would be saved and available for after the storm. Think about how valuable those ambulances, school busses generators and light towers would have been for the days following the storm and flood.
Now I have never claimed to be the brightest guy in the world and I have not ever been trained in emergency planning. But it took me all of 5 minutes to think of these things and ways to possibly deal with them. I would hope that the so called experts could do far better and would have a plan in place with pre-established contracts for the delivery of the items listed. Even better they would have those supplies already in a warehouse waiting for such an event. But again that is just me thinking.
I agree that the federal response was slow and poor at first, but now it is more than acceptable. I also know that Bush said the same a few days ago. But I think that the overwhelming majority of the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the Mayor and the Governor, something like 95% if you want to put a value on it.
Think of it this way, FEMA inherited a mess far worse than it should have. Had the Mayor done the simple things I listed, had he called for the evac earlier many many more people, possibly tens of thousands would have been out of harms way. Had the Gov federalized when she was asked to, had she released the national guard before the storm, relief and security would have already been in place to prevent some of the shooting and looting and keep order while also assisting in evac. Had all of that taken place the people in the Super”doom” and conventions center would not have been in such a dire situation and could have stayed there a bit longer so rescue resources could have been used else where. Imagine how many peoples lives could have been saved just by doing that and how much easier FEMA’s job have been in the days immediately following the storm and flood.
Out the back door with the Senator of La…real good leadership.